Ready or not……

Shakedown

There I stood in a gravelly, ice/dirt parking lot at least 15-20 pounds more than I ought to be, and shouldering a pack which regrettably also clocked in heavier than I know it should be. In both cases victimized it seems by “more is not necessarily enough” when it came to packing it on and packing it in.

I was all geared up and standing there after being dropped off just across the Md line where the AT snakes its way north into PA. The AT here is bounded on the East and west sides by the yearly concrete creep of development. Here, the AT is a small ribbon of created things thrust up in heroic defiance of the encroaching manufactured things. The trail as it winds itself south from where I stood takes you through the Maryland portion of the AT, and though not a particularly impressive state mileage-wise, it courses its way through some of the most important historical sites you will encounter on the trail.

The first Washington monument is right off the AT. Built one July 4th morning in 1827 when the Boonsboro’s town residents purposefully gathered at 7am and marched up South mountain. By 4 pm they had built the first ever monument dedicated to George Washington, patriotically ending the day with a reading the Declaration of Independence. The trail also runs through parts of the Antietam battlefield, where our country suffered its greatest casualties in one day ever. The temptation would be to motor on through as it is relatively easy hiking, but I think it is every bit worth lingering over. Every 4th of July the Maryland symphony performs on this battlefield and it is covered with folks who come out to enjoy the fireworks and music, picnicking on fields once littered with broken young men.

This time I wanted to hike north, a short, unambitious fifteen mile hike carried out over two days. Five miles the first day, ten the next. The plan wasn’t to hike any large distances so much as figuring out what would be hitching a ride with me on my back as I walk when I leave Springer in four weeks time. Truth be told, I also wanted to see how I felt after a ten mile day coming out of my three month holiday hibernation. In four weeks I will be flying to GA, and was I ready?

Ready or not here it comes.

Lessons

Here is what I learned:

I am more disorganized than I thought I was. It was cold, it is February, and I had the shelter all to myself and it appeared I needed every inch of it. The picnic table where I sat to have dinner looked like I was setting up for a flea market rather than simply boiling water for a meal. How would anyone else have room? This did not include my pack, clothes, and other flotsam and jetsam I left adrift under my hammock. Just food and water stuff. I definitely need to be less “flea-market” and more “neighborly”,

I did chat a bit with a 30 year trail maintainer who was there with his dog Willow. He had a funny story about a ninja-raccoon that defeated every single effort to keep it from stealing the hiker food bags from off of the bear poles. After waging a year long battle, the ATC capitulated, and sprung for two bear boxes. Raccoon – 1, PATC – 0.

I learned I am also not in great hiking shape, or certainly not meeting my hopefully naive expectations. I was really sore after ten miles. Not so much tired (I was tired too) but sore. Last winter and spring when I first started this backpacking adventure, it seemed I was good in the 8-12 mile range. But now my calves hurt, my achilles tendon was sore…after a mere two days and fifteen miles. Good grief.

Good news: I am not in a hurry.

….here we go!   

Here is what I also learned: I am in. Overweight, out of shape, a disorganized walking flea market that I may be – I am in.

We will see how it goes. April 3rd. Stay tuned….

(I posted a video on YouTube of my shake down if you are interested.)